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05:42Friday, 20 August 2010

British credit card holders now owe an average of £2,200 on their plastic and with retailers reporting a slump in sales not seen for two decades, it is clear that shoppers are reining in their spending. In short, it's payback time.

To clear a debt of £2,200 on a card that attracts an interest rate of around 15% will take more than two years assuming a monthly repayment of £100.

There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear the debt many times over in less than a year.

Here are This is Money's top 50 money-saving tips.

1. Change your attitude to your mortgageThe most expensive item you are ever likely to buy is your home. If you're not in the privileged position to pay cash, make sure the loan you use to finance it is the best available. For example, if you are paying your lender's full standard variable rate (SVR) you are probably paying hundreds of pounds a year more than you need to.

There are thousands of deals to choose from and while it is vital to check the small print for hidden catches, this is a relatively easy way to save a lot of money. Remember: loyalty to your bank benefits your bank, not you. Even better, if you can afford to make overpayments on your mortgage, you'll clear your debt several years early and make massive savings. For example, if you borrow £100,000 at 6% over 25 years, you'll pay it back at £643 a month. The total charge for credit will be £93,000. But if you can overpay by £100 a month you'll clear the loan in less than 19 years, giving you 6 years of mortgage-free living and saving a staggering £25,000 in interest. Saving: £1,000sLinks: This is Money mortgage finder; mortgage calculators; mortgage guides

2. Clear your credit card debtOne of the golden rules of financial planning is to clear your most expensive debts first, in other words your credit cards. OK, credit cards offer a convenient way to pay for goods and services but if you can't clear the balance every month, consider a low-cost loan as an alternative. Do the sums: a credit card debt (APR 15%) of £2,200 over three years will cost £545 in interest. A loan at 6% will cost £209. A saving of £336.Saving: £100sLink: This is Money credit card finder

3. Cut the cost of your fuel bills As the global demand for power threatens to outstrip supply, prices are rising. But that doesn't mean you need to be ripped off. The domestic market for fuel is a competitive one and you can change supplier with a few clicks of the mouse. Your new supplier will take care of the formalities - you just pay less every month. Saving: £100Link: Slash your fuel bills with This is Money

4. Consider installing a water meterWe take our tap water for granted. And why not? The companies behind the supply exist to make a profit, we pay them to supply water and have every right to expect it to flow from our taps. But if it doesn't rain, supply runs dry and the price goes up. So you may want to consider the possibility of installing a meter. If you have a big home with few occupants you may be surprised to learn you could halve your annual bill. Saving: £100sLink: water calculator

5. Cut your home phone bills BT may seem to behave like a monopoly but it most definitely is not one. If you must use your phone there are scores of cheaper alternatives from cable companies that package your telephone, television and even broadband internet access to low-cost dial-up services that give you access to cheaper calls using your existing BT line. Saving: £100Link: Cut your phone bills with This is Money

6. Consider a pay-as-you go mobileAsk yourself this: is your mobile phone absolutely necessary? If the answer is yes, then ask yourself whether you really need all those minutes and texts that come as part of your package. If you hand over £50 a month to your mobile phone company, that's £600 a year – or around £1,000 of your gross salary. But you can buy a pay-as-you-go phone for as little as £30 and only pay for the odd call as and when you need to. Saving: £100sLinks: mobile phone deal finder

7. Make a shopping listFood shopping forms a significant part of our monthly outgoings and the supermarket is where the bulk of the money is spent. Tesco takes £1 in every £8 spent by UK shoppers. But be warned, stores spend a small fortune studying ways of making us part with more of our money than we would otherwise intend to. Have you ever wondered why your favourite song is playing in the background as you navigate the aisles? Have you even noticed the background music? Possibly not, but you will have noticed at the checkout that the bill is often more than expected. To circumvent this, simply make a shopping list. Dig out the cookery books, plan a few meals and only buy what you need.Saving: £10 a week = £520 a yearLink: Mysupermarket for price comparisons

8. When was the last time you went to the market? One way to beat the supermarkets - that is, to eat healthily for less - is to use your local market stall. Lower overheads should mean lower prices. At the time of writing, cherries were on sale in Asda for £2.99 for 400g, the equivalent at the local market was going for just over £1. Saving: £100+9. Consider own-brand goodsYou can buy a tin of Asda own-brand baked beans for 14p and a loaf bread at Asda, Tesco or Sainsbury's for 19p. Enough said. Saving: £100 Link: Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's

10. Don't buy designer labelsCelebrities are given expensive clothes to wear. You're not. At the end of the day, and let's face it you may only wear the outfit once, can you justify paying hundreds of pounds over the odds because a top designer has had his or her name sewn on the label? And can you honestly say you can tell the difference at a distance between a £600 designer bag and a £9.99 one from the market? Think about it.Saving: £100s Link: Prada - note the total lack of pricesASOS.com offers discounted brands

11. Sell your clutter on eBayTake this quick test: You're at home. Open a cupboard. Look inside. If it's full of clothes you haven't worn, or 'good ideas a the time' you haven't used, for, let's say, three years - you don't need them. So why not sell them to someone else who does? Ebay, the online auction house, has opened individual sellers to a world of buyers. And you can flog anything for the cost of a small commission. Tip: you may want to buy a few items first to build up your rating as a respectable eBayer before you start selling. Income: Will depend on what's in your cupboardLinks: www.ebay.co.uk; 'I'm making money from eBay'

12. Use your talent to earn extra cashLet's face it, if you're not a pop star by the time you reach your 20s you're never going to be. But you may be able to use your talent as a guitarist to teach other wannabes the rudiments of the 12-bar blues. Income: It's not unreasonable to charge £20 an hour

13. Do DIYWe're a nation of obsessive DIYers and for around £100 you can take a course at your local adult education college to improve the skills needed to tackle most household repairs. If the college runs plumbing courses you could soon be on track to wiping out costly call-out charges and extra insurance policies once and for all.Saving: £100+14. Shop around for the cheapest household insuranceUnless you drive – car insurance is mandatory - you don't need insurance. But it's strongly advisable. Can you afford to foot the bill if your house burns down? Probably not. Similarly, can you afford to pay over the odds for the same policy available elsewhere because you can't be bothered to shop around? Possibly, but it's not advisable. The internet has made finding cheaper insurance easy and you can compare hundreds of policies in minutes. Saving: £100sLink: This is Money's insurance finder

15. Don't automatically renew annual travel insuranceIf your annual holiday insurance policy is about to expire and you don't have a holiday booked, DON'T renew the policy. You're handing your money over to cover an eventuality that won't happen. You wouldn't have car insurance if you didn't own a car. Simply restart the cover again the next time you book a trip. Saving: £50Link: This is Money's travel insurance finder

16. Choose cheaper breakdown insuranceThe breakdown sector is dominated by big names such as the AA and RAC. But being towed home if your car breaks down is just another form of insurance like any other and there are scores of cheaper alternatives. Saving: Up to £100 a year Link: This is Money's breakdown insurance finder

17. Are you paying too much for your life insurance? We're living longer. As a result the cost of insuring the unthinkable is getting cheaper all the time. If you were sold a policy when you took out or mortgage you may have been under too much stress to shop around. You could be missing a trick.Saving: £100 Link: This is Money's life insurance finder

18. Book early Low-cost airlines have created a market in holidays for people prepared to fly to any destination provided it's cheap. You can benefit from this too. Just remember, only a few seats on each flight are sold at bargain-basement prices and once they're sold, the prices rise. So book early.Saving: £100Link: Skyscanner - the air fares comparison site

19. Book your own 'package' holiday onlineThe popularity of High Street travel agents is waning as more and more people warm to the benefits of researching and putting together their own holidays on the internet. If your holiday consists of flights, accommodation, transfers and possibly car hire, then take this test. Order a brochure from a leading holiday company and work out the price of your holiday including all the complicated supplements. Now go online and, starting with the flights, try to put the same package together. Saving: £100+Links: This is flights, HotelClub.co.uk, Shuttle Direct, Holiday Autos

20. Learn to say 'no'It's easy to capitulate to the demands of a screaming child in a packed Woolworths on a Saturday afternoon. But don't do it. Similarly, how often does a 'swift half' after work turn into a £40 drinking session? Saying 'no' a few times a year will do wonders for your bank account. Saving: £10023. Don't pay full price for theatre or theme park tickets If you are prepared to tolerate the unwieldy website and hit-and-miss customer service, lastminute.com regularly boasts some amazing deals for London's theatres and the nation's theme parks. At the time of writing you can see top West End show The Producers plus a two-course meal for less than £20 a head, a saving of £60 per person, and tickets for Chessington World of Adventures cost from £12, a saving of nearly £50 for a day out for a family of four. Saving: £100sLink: www.lastminute.com

24. Beat the ticket toutsTicket touts earn their living by getting hold of tickets that are 'otherwise unavailable'. Well, here's the news: they are available to everyone when they first go on sale. You just need to know when they go on sale. Simply sign up to for the free ticket alert newsletters from the main agents to ensure that you're first in the queue. Saving: £100sLinks: Ticketline; Ticketmaster

25. Stop trying to keep up with the JonesesTrying to keep up appearances is little more than a costly illness. Remember, you cannot judge someone by what they have because you don't know how they got it. Chances are they're in more debt than you are. Saving: £1,000sLink: This is Money's guide to getting out of debt

26. Trade down your carSo, you bought an American sports utility vehicle (SUV) that nets 15 miles to the gallon on a whim. Obviously we're all very impressed – especially by the personalised number plate. But can you honestly justify the ongoing expense? If not, get rid of it. Then visit a car supermarket, where you can choose from thousands of cars at knock-down prices. If you're a true money saver, consider an ex-rental model which you can pick up for a fraction of the cost of a new one. Saving: £1,000sLinks: Daily Mail find a car service; Cargiant

27. Ask yourself: do I really need this? Imagine the scenario. It's lunchtime and you've got an hour to kill. You find yourself in a department store and there's a sale on. You pick up a beautifully packaged selection of barbecue tools and associated garden paraphernalia. And it's half price. Now, stop! Ask yourself: Do I really need this? Exactly. Now, put it down and walk away.Saving: £100Link: This is Money's money savers' guides

28. Walk/cycle to the station/workIt maybe a bit of hippie notion to many people but it's free. Saving: £100Link: Cycle Campaign Network

29. Get off the station before your usual stop and walkWe may be creatures of habit but isn't it worth tinkering with the routine if it's costing more than £50 a month in unnecessary fares?Saving: £100Link: Living Streets

30. Cut down your drinkingA few beers after work a few nights a week is a financially debilitating state of affairs. Set limits and stick to them.Saving: £100sLink: Calculator: Pleasures v treasures

31. Pack up smokingNever mind the health implications, the guilt and the smell, your 20-a-day habit is costing you nearly £2,000 a year. Pack it in.Saving: Nearly £2,000Link: Givingupsmoking.co.uk

32. Cancel your gym membershipIf you pay your £40 a month by direct debit and you use the gym three times a week, great. If not, cancel your membership immediately. You'll soon save enough to buy your own bike and, if you're so inclined, a rowing machine. Consider running home from work three times a week. It's free. Saving: £100sLink: Compare prices for rowing machines on Kelkoo

33. Use your libraryThe local library is a mecca for the money saver. You'll never need to buy another cookbook, guidebook or lifestyle manual again and if you can bear to wait a few weeks in the queue for the latest blockbuster, you never need to buy books again. CDs and videos are great value too. Saving: £100Link: www.whichbook.net - find a book and check if it's available at your local library

34. The three-for-two trickNow, there's a lot to be said for buy-one-get-one-free deals, especially if they pass the 'Do I really need this?' test. Then there's three-for-twos; a particularly cynical way of stores to entice shoppers to buy an extra item they would not otherwise buy. The 'offer' is always priced into the deal so do your sums and shop around.Saving: It's a principle at stake hereLink: Discuss deals and scams with other readers

35. Buy clothes and presents in the salesSo you need a new suit and the one you like comes in at a cool £300. Wait! The chances are that you can pick it up in the sale – and there's always a sale just around the corner – for £150. The same applies for birthday and Christmas presents. Buy in bulk in the sales and you not only save money, but you enjoy stress-free pre-Christmases and no last-minute birthday worries. Saving: £100s37. The Christmas lotteryInstead of trying to buy a present for every relative in your family, consider getting together beforehand and picking one name from the hat. You then buy one thoughtful gift for that one person rather than attempting to please everyone at considerable cost. Everyone gets a present, everyone saves money.Saving: £100

38. The National Lottery – it won't be you!The odds of winning the Lotto jackpot are stacked 14m to 1 against each ticket. Some highly organised syndicates buy 14,000 tickets a week, which reduces the odds to 1,000 to 1 - but that's no guarantee of a win. For the rest of us, the difference to the odds between buying, say, 10 tickets and one is so insignificant that you should limit yourself to the one and save the extra money in a Cash mini Isa. Saving: £100Link: Are you sitting on a winning ticket?

39. Use your Isa allowancesIf you're not already aware, you can save up to £3,000 a year in a tax-free savings account called an Isa (for the more financially savvy there's also a stocks and shares Isa). It means you don't pay any tax on the interest accrued so, if you have spare cash in your current account, this is the difference between earning next to no interest and up to £150 a year.Saving: £100+Link: Best Isa rates

40. Claim your benefits and tax creditsThere was once a certain stigma in Britain attached to claiming benefits. Well, not any more. The Government has put benefits at the heart of the family budget and it's your money so make sure you're claiming it. That includes Child Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and other employee-related tax benefits.Saving: £100sLink: Confused? Ask a This is Money Expert

41. How saving £50 a month now can save you £120 next yearDo you pay your insurance premiums by monthly instalments? If you do, then consider this: you are probably being charged a premium of between 15% and 20% for the privilege. In other words, if your home and car insurance bill for the year is £600, you're paying up to £120 a year in interest by paying monthly. If you are in a position this year to save up for next year's premiums in advance, you can save money by paying the whole lot in one go.Saving: £100+Link: This is Money's best savings rates

42. Do you need all those TV channels?Britain is switching to digital-only television and time is running out for you to choose your new digital TV provider. The choice is already bewildering and with telephone-based services now being launched it's going to get more complicated. Packages range from full the monty, including every sports and movie channel costing around £50 a month, down to Freeview, which is free. Choose wisely. Saving: £100+43. Bin the ready meals If TV chefs such as Ainsley Harriott can knock up a meal from a bag of random groceries including an aubergine and a packet of sultanas – so can you. Ready meals may be convenient, but preparing your own food saves money. A visit to your library will reveal scores of books dedicated to cooking proper meals in minutes. Saving: £100+44. Take up a money-saving hobbyHobbies not only open your mind to new experiences but they also take up your time – important if you would otherwise spend it in the pub drinking away your hard-earned money. If a painting takes 20 hours to complete, and you normally get through a pint an hour. That's a saving of a least 40 quid a picture. Think about it. Get painting. Go fishing. Saving: £100+

45. Avoid the payment protection racketBanks and other lenders are selling expensive insurance policies to cover loan repayments to people who don't need it. Don't be a victim of the hard-sell.Saving: £10046. Avoid extended warranties Electrical goods are more reliable than ever. If your new radio won't last three years perhaps it's not worth buying in the first place. Think about it: how many times has your fridge broken down in the last five years? And do you really need the hassle of claiming for repairs to a £15 toaster? Saving: £100Link: Read our guide to extended warranties

47. Shop onlineThe internet is gradually taking over. Online grocery shopping is getting better all the time and there are plenty of comparison websites to help find the best prices for bigger items. Give it a try, unless of course you like fighting your way through supermarket crowds. Saving: Your sanityLinks: Online grocery service rated; PriceRunner - price comparison site

48. The Citizen's Advice Bureau is your friendIf your debts are out of control please seek help immediately from your local CAB – their advisers can help you work out a sensible strategy to get you back on your feet. Saving: It could save your lifeLink: Find your local CAB

49. Have I missed any money-saving ideas?You can now add your comments to the Money Saving OverflowLink: Find out more at 50 more ways to save money

50. Save this article or send it to a friendUse the links at the bottom of the page to send these money-saving tips to a friend or save it for yourself for later.

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